USF

Experts Advocate for Action on Universal Service Fund Reform

'A legacy program that’s done great things for decades,' said one panelist.

Naomi Jindra

Oct 30, 2025 — 2 min read

Photo of, from left: Jimm Phillips, reporter/associate editor at CommDaily, Roslyn Layton, Executive Vice President at Strand Consult; Paroma Sanyal, principal at the Brattle Group; Carol Mattey, Founder of Mattey Consulting; and Gregory Guice, chief policy officer at the Vernonburg Group

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 30, 2025 — Broadband experts called on Congress to modernize the Universal Service Fund’s contribution system, warning that the decades-old mechanism is no longer sustainable.

The Universal Service Fund is “a legacy program that’s done great things for decades,” said Gregory Guice, chief policy officer at the Vernonburg Group, at AnchorNets25 hosted by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition here. “But the contribution mechanism is one of the areas where reform is most desperately needed.”

Panelists agreed that with voice revenues declining and internet use surging, Congress and the Federal Communications Commission must consider new contributors to the USF.